This invention relates to hose couplings and more particularly to fire hose couplings adapted to be mounted on either a fire hydrant or a fire truck and capable of coupling hoses of different diameters and/or different end fitting types.
Fire hydrants are typically provided with two or three 2xc2xdxe2x80x3 ports and one 4xe2x80x3 port, all provided with male threaded fittings to which firefighters attach their hoses. For many years almost all fire departments used hoses which could be screwed directly onto the 2xc2xdxe2x80x3 fittings, but in more recent times many, but by no means all, departments have elected to use much larger diameter hoses, in the range of 4-6xe2x80x3 and sometimes even greater, which are fitted with quick locking sealing rings of the well known Storz type (see U.S. Pat. No. 489,107 issued Jan. 3, 1893 to Carl August Guido Storz, which discloses the use of two coupling halves together with each coupling half comprising a ring (locking collar) and a sealing ring). This means that each fire truck has to carry Storz adapters which must be screwed into place on the hydrant before the hose can be used. This takes time and special spanners to achieve. Once installed the adapter is generally left in place until permission to clear the site has been given by the fire captain. If the fire happens to be a large one, involving more than one fire department or a number of trucks which are differently equipped, the next truck to require water from the hydrant may be equipped with 2xc2xdxe2x80x3 hoses with screw fittings, which means that the Storz adapter must be removed before the new hose can be connected. This again takes time and there is a very real likelihood that the adapter will be mislaid or end up on the wrong truck. There is a need, therefore, for a single adapter which can be screwed onto the hydrant and which can accommodate either 2xc2xdxe2x80x3 screw-on hoses or larger Storz-type fitted hoses. Conversely, there is also a need for an adapter which can be mounted on a fire truck so that hoses of different diameters and end fittings can be attached to the same port on the truck. Such an adapter is generally the mirror image of the adapter used on the hydrant.
An object of the present invention is to provide coupling adapters for use with fire hydrants or fire trucks which can be used to connect selected hoses of different diameters.
Another object of this invention is to provide fire hydrants which are adapted to receive fire hoses of selected different diameters at a single selected port thereof.
Yet another object of this invention is to provide a protective cover for the adapter of the present invention.
By one aspect of this invention there is provided an adapter for selectively attaching a first hose or a second hose, having a smaller diameter than said first hose, to port means having a diameter corresponding substantially to said smaller diameter hose, comprising: a substantially rigid tubular member having a thread at a first end thereof, adapted to be releasably engaged with a complementary thread in said port, and a thread at a second end thereof adapted to be releasably engaged with a threaded fitting at one end of said second hose; and one half of a Storz fitting securely and concentrically mounted on said tubular member, intermediate the ends thereof, and adapted to receive a complementary half of a Storz fitting at one end of said first hose.
By another aspect of this invention there is provided a fire hydrant having a plurality of ports of selected diameter and including adapter means for selectively attaching a first hose or a second hose, having a smaller diameter than said first hose, to a selected one of said ports having a diameter corresponding substantially to said smaller diameter hose, said adapter means comprising: a substantially rigid tubular member having a thread at a first end thereof, adapted to be releasably engaged with a complementary thread in said port, and a thread at a second end thereof adapted to be releasably engaged with a threaded fitting at one end of said second hose; and one half of a Storz fitting securely and concentrically mounted on said tubular member, intermediate the ends thereof, and adapted to receive a complementary half of a Storz fitting at one end of said first hose.